Mi familia

I have a WONDERFUL host family. My host mother is actually a grandma, with 4 grown children (youngest is 28) and she is just great. She treats me like a grandchild, always preparing the most delicious Guatemalan food. Everything is fresh here. I eat fruit at every meal and large quantities of salads and vegetables. I also eat beans, (though not as much as I thought,) tortillas, fish, soy ¨meat¨ (cause real meat is expensive, I learned) salsa, guacamole, lots of pan tostada (toasted bread) and no desserts. Guatemalans eat fruit for desert, which is fine by me! The fruit is so fresh and my mom buys food everyday from the market. I have yet to feel the slightest bit sick, I guess i have to thank mom for an iron stomach! :)
I also consume mass amounts of food. My host mom is up every morning at 6:30, preparing my breakfast, which is at 7:30. I have eggs or broccoli and cheese wrapped with ham, and fruit with granola, and bread and tea every morning. I have learned to ask for small portions, because wasting food in Guatemala is a huge insult to the cook. I absolutely love the food and everything about it. It is a good thing for Salsa dancing, that is all I can say, or I would be a balloon already! We danced 3 nights this week, and are going back for another lesson tonight. The teacher, Alex, 20, a Guatemalteco/Californian, gives us a good workout. So far, we have yet to pay for a lesson. Alex loves salsa and he loves teaching it to the Gringos (us pale-skinned people) so he has yet to charge us. But more about Salsa later.
I have two host sisters with children, two 12 year olds, Abi and Valeria, and a 2 year old boy named Josue who calls me ¨amma¨ and is the most precious thing I have ever seen!
I have my own room, with my own bathroom (which is really nice!!) and running water!! I even have a hot shower, if I put it on a trickle! More pressure means less hot water, but by February i won´t need hot showers because it will be gorgeous out. Now is very chilly at nights and mornings, probably about 40 or 50, but it gets up to 70 during the day, and we always end up wearing tank tops. By the end of February, it will be nice all the time. The house has no insluation, and the roof is patched together with sheet metal, so whatever temperature it is outside, that is the temperature inside. I have learned to accept dirt on the floor as part of Guatemalan life. It is never clean. But it doesn´t bother me anymore. The whole living situation down here is very dependent on the climate and the outdoors, and doesn´t bother me. I have heard a couple of cats on our roof, but they just chill out up there and never bother anyone!
I just realized this is a relatively loooong post. I will write more later! Nicole and I are going to Parque Central to soak up some rays for the afternoon. Love to all!